Thai army-trained rangers and forestry officials on Wednesday exchanged gunfire with a group of Cambodian lumberjacks in a border area of northeastern Thailand, a government official said.
Five Cambodians, two of whom were suspected as army soldiers, had allegedly trespassed Thai territory and poached for timber in Huay Sala wildlife sanctuary in Phu Sing district of Sisaket province (*bordering Oddar Meanchey), according to Sathit Phanthumat, head of the sanctuary.
A Thai army officer, namely Lt. Sivathep Boonlom, was injured during the shoot-out, which briefly occurred in Thai territory about 200 meters from the Thai-Cambodian border, Sathit said.
The Thai authorities arrested one of the five Cambodians and seized an AK-47 rifle, a chainsaw and 35 pieces of ironwood, allegedly cut by the Cambodians from the felled trees in the sanctuary area, he said.
The four other Cambodians managed to flee across the border into the Cambodian territory, he said. XINHUA
